What Sacrifices Are You Making?

The new year has just begun, many of us have created new year’s resolutions to go to the gym or save more money to name a couple of the most common resolutions. I don’t make new year’s resolutions, but I do make goals I am looking to achieve in 2015. Usually the goals and resolutions that we make require sacrifice and extra effort that is not part of our normal routine. If your goal is to save $100 per month, you may have to sacrifice, this could include not eating out as much or cutting coupons for your groceries, either way some sort of sacrifice is made. One of my favorite quotes is “If it were easy, everyone would do it”. That means you have to sacrifice to reach those goals and resolutions, what sacrifices are you making?

In the new year as in the old, I have been working to pay off my student loans. My budget has been cut so it’s more than just clipping coupons, I make thousand dollar plus payments and I sacrifice to do it. This week has been a great example of sacrifice for me. One of the busier times of my year is on a quarterly basis in my line of work. When the opportunity came to work extra during this busy time I was there with my hand raised high. It meant working till late on New Year’s Eve and it mean coming in on a Saturday to work for a few hours. I’m an hourly employee so I’m happy to make the sacrifice while earning extra money. That’s how bad I want to pay off my student loans, that’s how bad I want financial independence, I want it more than I have ever wanted anything before. Volunteering to work extra is not enough, during that same week I bought, took pictures, and listed 20 items on eBay. Today instead of watching TV all day, I am taking pictures and listing items so I can make that extra money, I want it more. I take the extra time at night or first thing in the morning to ship the items I sold, I’m willing to sacrifice an extra 15 minutes of sleep are you?

Just like many of you, I am looking to lose a few pounds in the new year. I’m willing to make the sacrifice of eating healthier and eating less. I’m tracking what I eat and what exercise I do each day, but it’s a sacrifice to do so. If I didn’t sacrifice I would drink and eat everything that was in the house and in some cases outside of it as well. Sounds familiar with how most Americans choose to eat and spend in excess.

I have a plan to sacrifice. I have big goals and big dreams of financial independence and a plan to get there. It requires sacrifice that I’m prepared to make. I could be driving a Range Rover, having drinks and dinner every night, and wearing brand new clothes, but my goal for financial independence is more important to me. My goals for 2015 are lofty and with lofty goals sacrifices are made……I’m ready.

If I mention the word “sacrifice” to Mr SSC he would run away screaming… too many images of his life growing up poor. Even the word “trim” has negative connotations for him. So, instead of trimming or sacrificing my/our goal is to really embrace a more frugal lifestyle, make it our lifestyle instead of one we are aspiring towards. I’m pretty okay with being frugal, so while I wait for Mr SSC’s money mindset to catch up to me – I’m focusing more on my health this year. I’ve been ‘sacrificing’ yummy treats for a few weeks- but I have found now they are starting to taste too sweet, so it doesn’t feel like so much of a sacrifice anymore!Mrs SSC recently posted…Early retirement fail

We’re trying to cut back our grocery spending this year, so our first experiment is to try cooking less. We’re going to try this for one month to see if it makes a difference. Instead of cooking 6 days a week, I’m going to cook 3 or 4 times a week. Instead of eating our dinner leftovers for lunch, we’re going to eat cheaper lunch foods (sandwiches) and eat our dinner leftovers for dinner the next day. I’m really hoping to cut our grocery spending by $150, so I’m anxious to see if this works!Rebecca recently posted…Most Popular Posts

Ironically I’m using your old method currently and cooking more at dinner time for lunches and I make a special effort 2x a week to cook a large meal that can be used for the week ie I cook 12 eggs and 6 chicken sausages that will last 3-5 days depending on if I use it as a snack or lunch as well. Let me know how that works for you….Tweet me the results!

Love the dedication. Just be careful you don’t sacrifice too much sleep to affect your health. For myself at least, if I work too many long days for weeks at a time the stress take a toll and I need the sleep (8-7) hours even more.

Great point on making sure you get enough sleep. One of my new found strengths is I am a 65 year old man who goes to bed early and wakes up early, I don’t waste much time by planning and hustle hard when I need to, all of this at 30 something! Although I’m hoping to implement nap time in the future.

This year, I am sacrificing my love of shopping to use that part of my budget for student loan repayment. I want to pay off my largest remaining loan of $10,000 this year, so I’ll also have to go without some other things as well. It will be worth it in the end.Jessica recently posted…Am I Crazy? My 2015 Goals

Like Mrs SSC, we really try to frame things as making a positive choice rather than giving something up. It makes a big difference in our mental state to view things as positives rather than temporary hardships.

I’m going to chalk this one up to “to each their own”. I actually love knowing that I am sacrificing something so I can Win, I thrive knowing I spent my Saturday at work so I can make an extra payment on my student loan. I certainly understand and appreciate the status of creating a new “normal” and in some cases I think I apply this principal to our finances, but with student loan and personal debt I’m making a sacrifice and working extra hard to do it.

Awesome idea for a post! I often relate benefits to sacrifice – especially with our children. An “I want ___.” from Mini #1 is almost always followed up with a “What are you willing to [do, spend, give] to get it?” from me. I feel that it reinforces frugality and teaches us to carefully weigh opportunity costs and spend with caution, no matter the form of payment.Mr. Maroon recently posted…The Master Plan Revisited

With your passion to pay off debt you will reach your goal. Its great to see someone who is not afraid to sweat a little to make a better life for themselves. I wish you the best of luck in 2015.Petrish @ Debt Free Martini recently posted…5 Financial Myths to Ignore

Well said. Life is all about sacrifices. This year I’m going to be focusing on saving more (at least $1500 a month), spending less on groceries (right now I’m spending about $400 a month, I’d like that to be $250-$300, cooking more at home and exercising more (at least 3 times a week). That means not going out with friends as much, meal planning and less time relaxing, but those are small “sacrifices” (more like habit changes) to make to get what I want.

I think it goes from those sacrifices to being the normal, but this takes a long while. Saving more on groceries and food is always a great goal because it also means you are probably eating healthier as well.

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